Bike riders raise awareness of human slavery in Canada

Aboriginals are over-represented in it, they claim

OTTAWA (CCN)

The BASIC (Bikers Against Slavery in Canada) Riders brought their message to Ottawa July 21-22 of raising awareness of human trafficking in Canada.

“There’s not a huge amount of slavery, but it is happening, in whatever town you’re in,” said team leader Luke Wahl, 24, of Strathmore, Alberta, near Calgary. “Aboriginals are over-represented in it.”

Wahl, Ryan McAuley, 25, also of Strathmore and Dominic Mayhew, 23, of Calgary, dipped their tires into the sea off Vancouver’s Stanley Park on June 6. A fourth team member, Matthew Wright, 25, drove the support van, designed the uniforms and their BASICride.com website, but was only able to get off work for the first five weeks of the planned 71-day ride.

Along the way, the riders have given presentations to groups and churches to raise awareness of human slavery. While corporate sponsors have already paid for the expenses associated with the ride, the riders are contributing any funds raised to DefendDignity.ca, an outreach of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Church aimed at “ending sexual exploitation in Canada.” Their goal is to raise $25,000.

Sex slaves are “not just people chained in a brothel,” Wahl said. “You might even know someone who’s being trafficked.”

McAuley said he had been aware human slavery took place in other countries, but “finding out it took place in Canada” made an impact on all of the team members. The ride has been in the works for three years.

“We are four ordinary guys on this trip who got tired of seeing injustice and nobody doing anything about it,” said Mayhew. “So, we hope other people will be encouraged to start taking an active role and learn of other ways individuals can be involved.”

In their presentation they tell the stories of two women and how they were trafficked. One story is based on a composite person, and the other on a real life story of a woman named Beatrice. When in Regina, they got to meet her. “We got to tell her story with her in the audience,” McAuley said.

Beatrice was born on a First Nation’s reserve, to a mother who could not care for her. She was then adopted into a family that abused her. When she was later placed in a residence for Aboriginal girls, the abuse continued, so she fled. Beatrice began hanging out with friends who were drinking and doing drugs, until one day a group of pimps broke in on a party and forced her into the sex trade at the age of 14. She tried to escape, but soon became dependent on drugs and on the money. She had eight children during this time and all were taken away by the authorities. Eventually, she found a way to wean herself off drugs and became a Christian. She then was able to get four of her children back. She is now happily married, runs a small business, and is in touch with all her children, McAuley said. She nowserves on DefendDignity’s advisory board.

The team also tells people how to recognize if someone is being trafficked:

— Does the person need to check in with someone at regular intervals?
— Do they have a boyfriend or girlfriend who is excessively controlling or jealous and trying to estrange them from their family and support networks?
— Do they have an increased sexual knowledge beyond what they should have for their stage in life?
— Have they undergone a sudden change in lifestyle, hygiene, and friends?

“These are just some red flags,” said McAuley, noting one by itself does not necessarily indicate someone is being trafficked. “If you tick off multiple boxes, then you might want to all the human trafficking hotline.” That number is 1 888 373 8888.

Mayhew said the team also tells people how to get involved through supporting political activity, such as the recent prostitution legislation that criminalized the buying of sex. They also support MP Arnold Viersen’s Motion 47 that would instruct a committee to examine the impact of violent sexual content.

The young men see links between prostitution and pornography and sexual slavery. “We have an opportunity to start creating a culture in Canada where sexual exploitation is not normalized and it is not okay,” said Mayhew.

The riders have found some people have taken issue with their use of the word ‘slavery’ when they compare it to the state-sponsored slavery in the United States in the 1800. But McAuley said mostly it’s a “good conversation starter.” They have had many more good experiences, such as a time a teller donated to Defend Dignity herself after one of the riders made a deposit.

The worst part of the ride so far was experiencing rain and cold in the mountains near Revelstoke, B.C. They could see their breath and McAuley said he got so chilled he couldn’t feel his hands or feet. By the time they rolled into their stop, he couldn’t even operate the brakes on his bike. He couldn’t move his fingerss to remove his helmet. “For me and Luke it was hilarious,” McAuley said. “What am I doing? This is ridiculous.”

From Ottawa, the BASIC Riders headed for Montreal, then onto Quebec City and planned to ride down the coast of New Brunswick. They intend to wrap their cross-country tour up in St. John’s Newfoundland on Aug. 15.